Always Army Strong

Chapter 2

When she woke up, she was more than ready to leave. She grabbed a banana from the counter, packed her bags and loaded up her car. She heard the sound of the door opening behind and turned around the see her whole family standing there. Her dad, mom, sister, and her sister's husband were all just watching her.

"I gotta head out," she said, trying to get a quick good-bye.

"Nicole," her dad says stepping forward from the group, "You should know that I love you, and I know that I've been hard on you, but I did that out of love. What you are doing is wonderful and I am so proud of you,"

"My little sis. Actually doing something with her life. I am so proud of you! I love you, and stay safe," Kennedy tells her.

"I think what you are doing is great. I wish more people had your courage," Kennedy's husband Ryan tells her.

"Honey," her mom begins busting into tears, "I love you so much! You are the best daughter I could ask for. I really just don't want you to get hurt. Please don't go!" Her mom begs.

"Mom, I have dreamed of doing this since freshman year of high school. You have always encouraged me to chase my dreams, and this is me doing it." She defends.

"Just, just stay safe, ok?" Her mom finishes.

Nicole makes her promises of safety and reassures everyone that she loves them. When all the goodbyes are finished, she heads out for the recruitment offices.

When she arrives at the office, she is shocked at how normal it looks. She figured that everything would look scary and intimidating, but this place just looked normal. She takes a deep breath and opens the door. The door that will lead her to accomplished her life dream.

She is greeted by a secretary that asks her for her name, and other personal information of that sort. The secretary then tells her that the recruitment officer will be with her shortly.

This whole thing is so overwhelming to Nicole, her entire life had been focused on joining the military and she was finally on her way to doing that. This is the moment she was living for.

"Nicole," a male voice says from a recently opened door, "Well come on in,"

She makes her way into a small room. The walls are rather plain, aside from one large picture of the army. It is really quite gorgeous. The man takes his seat behind the computer.

"Please, take a seat," he tells her, gesturing toward the chairs. "So Nicole, why do you want to join the military? What made you want to join " He asks

"I saw a soldier holding the elevator for an elderly lady in a wheelchair, another soldier gave up his seat for some girls. Seeing the courtesy that these men and women show, blows my mind. The amount of respect that people have for soldiers is monumental. I want to join the military for that respect, but not only that. I also want to join because I need to make something of my life. I have spent such a big part of my life not accomplishing anything. It's about time that that changed. I want to defend the country that has been so good to me, so that it can be good to others." She answers with perfection.

"Hmm, that might be one of the best answers I have heard for that question," he tells her, proudly. "Active Duty or Army Reserve?"

"Active Duty,"

"MOS?" He asks.

"I would like to be a patrol explosive dog handler," she tells him.

"Well, there are some tests that you will need to take. After that is finished we will be able to assess where you will fit into our army program. Tell me about your health, any issues we should know about," he asks

"No health issues!" she tells him happily.

He then tells her about where she is going to have to begin. The first thing she will have to do is take a test to see which jobs she qualifies for.